Officers gave terrified Tyre Nichols 71 swift and contradictory commands in just 13 minutes

Officers gave Tyre Nichols an astonishing 71 orders in 13 minutes while they violently beat him, most of which were confusing or even impossible to obey, analysis has found.

The 29-year-old was savagely beaten earlier this month by the Memphis, Tennessee, cops and died days later from his horrific injuries.

The defenseless FedEx worker was pulled over by police on January 7 and dealt blow after blow by the officers, punching, kicking and beating him with a baton as he pleaded for his mother while lying bloodied on the pavement.

A review of the footage by the New York Times found police gave at least 71 orders to Mr Nichols but many were conflicting and difficult to follow, as they accused him of failing to comply and escalated their force.

He was told to show his hands even when they were being held by police, ordered to get on the ground when he was already there, and instructed to move when he was being physically restrained. 

The four clips – three from body cameras, one from a surveillance camera attached to a post – have shocked and angered America. 

At 8.20pm on January 7, Nichols, who was born in Sacramento and moved to Memphis in February 2020, was driving home from a suburban park, where he had taken photos of the sunset.

He was driving along East Raines Road in south eastern Memphis when he encountered the police. One officer said he was ‘cutting through traffic’.

Experts claim the footage is an example of ‘contempt of cop’, in which officers harm civilians for perceived disobedience which is unwarranted. 

Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, said: ‘It was far more rampant in the ’80s, when I started doing police work, than it was in the ’90s or 2000s. 

Nichols's car is seen being pulled over at 8:24pm in south eastern Memphis on January 7

Nichols’s car is seen being pulled over at 8:24pm in south eastern Memphis on January 7

Nichols can be seen wrestling with the two officers, who demand he lies down

Nichols can be seen wrestling with the two officers, who demand he lies down

‘Even before body cams, cops were getting more professional and wouldn’t make it personal, like it seemed to be in this case. This is just — it’s so far out of the norm.’

The footage shows that officers did not react responsibly and professionally to the situation but instead egged each other on, with one officer even heard saying: ‘I hope they stomp his ass.’

The footage released by the City of Memphis shows Mr Nichols being pulled over by officers with their firearms drawn.

After he is pulled out of the car and is sat on the ground, all three officers surrounding him order him to get ‘on the ground’, clearly confusing the suspect.

He replies that he is already sitting on the ground but they continue to issue the same nonsensical order to him, while making physical threats. 

One orders: ‘Get on the ground! I’m gonna tase your ass.’

It soon transpires that they want him lying on the ground, but when he moves, this further aggravates the officers.

Nichols scrambles to his feet and runs. One officer yells: 'Taser, taser!' Nichols continues running, taking his t-shirt partially off as he runs

Nichols scrambles to his feet and runs. One officer yells: ‘Taser, taser!’ Nichols continues running, taking his t-shirt partially off as he runs

The footage shows that officers did not react responsibly and professionally to the situation but instead egged each other on

The footage shows that officers did not react responsibly and professionally to the situation but instead egged each other on

Mr Nichols insists: ‘You guys are really doing a lot right now. I’m just trying to go home.’

Police then pin down his arms, press a taser against his leg and give further orders while he continues to respond: ‘I am on the ground!’

Eventually he is told to move on to his stomach but just three seconds later, they shoot pepper spray into his face.

Mr Nichols then tries to flee the scene but makes it a few hundred yards away before he is restrained again.

With one officer holding his left arm and the other holding his right, he is told to give them his hands as he looks incredulously at them.

Cops then start punching him in the face and continuing to pepper spray him in the brutal arrest.

Nichols is seem propped up against the car, with no one checking on him

Nichols is seem propped up against the car, with no one checking on him

Nichols can occasionally be heard moaning as he lies on the ground after the savage beating

Nichols can occasionally be heard moaning as he lies on the ground after the savage beating

Tyre Nichols, 29, was brutally beaten like a 'human piñata' by five Memphis, Tennessee, police officers , who were all African American, on January 7 and died three days later in the hospital from kidney failure and cardiac arrest

Tyre Nichols, 29, was brutally beaten like a ‘human piñata’ by five Memphis, Tennessee, police officers , who were all African American, on January 7 and died three days later in the hospital from kidney failure and cardiac arrest

He tells the officers he will comply but then another cop arrives and orders him to give him his hands, despite them being restrained.

The conflicting instructions only lead to more pepper spraying, punches and kicks to the face.

By now, he is barely conscious or coherent after being dealt multiple blows to the head, but officers still react as if he is disobeying orders.

One officer commands: ‘Give me your hands! Turn around! Lay back!’

The officer with the body camera returns to the tussling men and Mr Nichols, and pulls his baton out of its holder, clasping it in his right hand.

‘Watch out – I’m going to baton the f*** out of you,’ he tells Mr Nichols. 

A fourth officer is now seen arriving, with his right arm raised. Nichols is still pinned to the floor by three officers, struggling and kicking.

The officer with the raised arm careful, deliberately and powerfully punches Nichols in the head, taking his time to get enough force.

Even when handcuffed, the cops continue to give him baffling orders and attack him while lying defenseless on the ground.

The five unanswered questions

Days after sickening footage was revealed of the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, several questions remain including why he was pulled over in the first place and what was ultimately his cause of death.  

The footage has left many unanswered questions about the traffic stop involving the black motorist and the role played by police officers who stood by as he lay motionless on the pavement.

The five disgraced Memphis Police Department officers have been fired and charged with second-degree murder and other crimes in Nichols’ death three days after the arrest. 

The video released Friday also renewed questions about how fatal encounters with law enforcement continue even after repeated calls for change.

Days after sickening footage was revealed of the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, several questions remain including why he was pulled over in the first place and what was ultimately his cause of death

Days after sickening footage was revealed of the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, several questions remain including why he was pulled over in the first place and what was ultimately his cause of death

The recording shows police savagely beating Nichols, a 29-year-old FedEx worker, for three minutes while screaming profanities at him in an assault that the Nichols family legal team has likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. 

Nichols calls out for his mother before his limp body is propped against a squad car and the officers exchange fist-bumps. 

Memphis Police Director Cerelyn ‘CJ’ Davis has said that other officers are under investigation, and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said two deputies have been relieved of duty without pay while their conduct is investigated.

Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, said the family would ‘continue to seek justice,’ noting that several other officers failed to render aid, making them ‘just as culpable as the officers who threw the blows.’

The arrest was made by the so-called Scorpion unit, which has three teams of about 30 street officers who target violent offenders in areas beset by high crime. The unit has since been disbanded. 

What was the probable cause for the initial traffic stop?

Questions swirled around what led to the traffic stop in the first place. 

One officer can be heard saying that Nichols wouldn’t stop and then swerved as though he intended to hit the officer’s car. 

The officer said that when Nichols pulled up to a red light, the officers jumped out of the car.

‘We tried to get him to stop,’ the officer said. ‘He didn’t stop.’

Officers also initially said Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving, but on Friday police said there was no police evidence to back up such a claim.

Indeed, the video footage that was released only started after police confronted him at an intersection. The initial traffic stop does not appear to have been filmed but it is not clear why. 

Chief Davis said the department cannot substantiate the reason for the stop.

‘We don’t know what happened,’ she said. ‘All we know is the amount of force that was applied in this situation was over the top.’

Nichols's car is seen being pulled over at 8:24pm in south eastern Memphis on January 7

Nichols’s car is seen being pulled over at 8:24pm in south eastern Memphis on January 7

Why did the cops accused of murdering Nichols treat him so brutally – and did any of them know the victim previously?

After the first officer roughly pulls Nichols out of a car, Nichols can be heard saying, ‘I didn’t do anything,’ as a group of officers begins to wrestle him to the ground.

One officer is heard yelling, ‘Tase him! Tase him!’

Nichols calmly says, ‘OK, I’m on the ground.’

‘You guys are really doing a lot right now,’ Nichols says. ‘I’m just trying to go home.’

‘Stop, I’m not doing anything!’ he yells moments later.

Nichols is also initially compliant with the officers’ requests although he is confused by their hostility towards him and lies on the ground as told to while police try to handcuff him. It’s unclear if he had any prior encounters with any of the cops involved.

Nichols can then be seen running after an officer fires a Taser at him. His mother’s home, where he lived, was only a few houses away from the scene of the beating, and his family said he was trying to get there. The officers then start chasing Nichols.

Other officers are called, and a search ensues before Nichols is caught at another intersection. The officers beat him with a baton, kick and punch him, then pepper spray him with police anger towards him only growing.

Nichols scrambles to his feet and runs. One officer yells: 'Taser, taser!' Nichols continues running, taking his t-shirt partially off as he runs

Nichols scrambles to his feet and runs. One officer yells: ‘Taser, taser!’ Nichols continues running, taking his t-shirt partially off as he runs

Which officer did what during the violence that killed Nichols? 

Security camera footage shows three officers surrounding Nichols as he lies in the street cornered between police cars, with a fourth officer nearby.

Two officers hold Nichols to the ground as he moves about, and then the third appears to kick him in the head. Nichols slumps more fully onto the pavement with all three officers surrounding him. The same officer kicks him again.

The fourth officer then walks over, draws a baton, and holds it up at shoulder level as two officers hold Nichols upright as if he were sitting.

‘I’m going to baton the f*** out you,’ one officer can be heard saying. His body camera shows him raise his baton while at least one other officer holds Nichols. The officer strikes Nichols on the back with the baton three times in a row.

The other officers then appear to hoist Nichols to his feet, with him flopping like a doll, barely able to stay upright.

An officer then punches him in the face, as the officer with the baton continues to hit him. Nichols stumbles and turns, still held up by two officers. The officer who punched him then walks around to Nichols’ front and punches him four more times. Then Nichols collapses.

Two officers can then be seen atop Nichols on the ground, with a third nearby, for about 40 seconds. Three more officers then run up, and one can be seen kicking Nichols on the ground.

As Nichols is slumped against a car, not one of the officers renders aid. The body camera footage shows one of them reaching down and tying his shoe.

Court records showed that all five former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith — were taken into custody.

Second-degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.

A third officer walks over, and, pausing to get full force, brings his right leg back and kicks him in the top half of his body. Nichols is now lying on his back

A third officer walks over, and, pausing to get full force, brings his right leg back and kicks him in the top half of his body. Nichols is now lying on his back

Charged with second degree murder are (top, left to right) Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, and (bottom, left to right) Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith

Charged with second degree murder are (top, left to right) Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, and (bottom, left to right) Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith

Why didn’t cops render aid to Nichols after he became unresponsive – and why did EMTs wait until 20 minutes after arriving to help him out?

It takes more than 20 minutes after Nichols is beaten and on the pavement before any sort of medical attention is provided, even though two fire department officers arrived on the scene with medical equipment within 10 minutes.

During the wait for an ambulance, officers joked and aired grievances. They complained that a handheld radio was ruined, that someone lost a flashlight and that multiple officers had been caught in the crossfire of the pepper spray used against Nichols.

Throughout the videos, officers make claims about Nichols’ behavior that are not supported by the footage or that the district attorney and other officials have said did not happen.

In one of the videos, an officer claims that during the initial traffic stop Nichols reached for the officer’s gun before fleeing and almost had his hand on the handle, which is not shown in the video.

After Nichols is in handcuffs and leaning against a police car, several officers say that he must have been high.

Later an officer says no drugs were found in his car, and another officer immediately counters that Nichols must have ditched something while he was running away.

After medics arrived on the scene it was a further 20 minutes before a stretcher was brought into view and an ambulance arrived. 

It is not clear how much longer it was before Nichols was taken to the hospital.

A paramedic is seen leaning over Nichols asking, 'What'd you have? We're trying to get you straight, what'd you have?' He is unable to respond and makes a gurgling noise

A paramedic is seen leaning over Nichols asking, ‘What’d you have? We’re trying to get you straight, what’d you have?’ He is unable to respond and makes a gurgling noise 

Nichols is seen propped up against the car, bloodied and barely conscious

Nichols is seen propped up against the car, bloodied and barely conscious

What was Nichols’ cause of death? 

Video released on Friday shows at least 10 cops and two paramedics milling about casually for nearly 20 minutes as Nichols lies on the ground critically injured. 

He died in hospital three days later in intensive care on January 10 after suffering cardiac arrest and kidney failure as a result of his injuries. 

Police were seen kicking him in the head twice with blood visible around his face. 

Authorities have not released an autopsy report that would explain exactly which injuries killed him – and how they were inflicted. 

An independent autopsy found he suffered ‘extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.’ 

The video raises disturbing questions about the apparent lack of action from first responders to treat Nichols after he was kicked and punched in the head, struck three times with a metal baton, and twice sprayed with pepper spray in the face.

Paramedics arrived on the scene about five minutes after the assault on Nichols concluded, at which point he was handcuffed and slumped against the side of a car.

The video shows a paramedic leaning over Nichols asking: ‘What’d you have? We’re trying to get you straight, what’d you have?’

Nichols is heard making a gurgling noise, but appears unable to speak, although he had been heard speaking clearly and relatively calmly before the assault. 

Officers at the scene were heard remarking that Nichols was ‘on something’ and ‘high as a kite’ as they wisecracked after the assault.

Cops may have advised the paramedics that Nichols was on drugs, though no evidence that he was has emerged in the weeks following the assault. 

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk